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Industry Briefs

Burlington Resources Inc. has completed and tested the fifth
Deep Madison formation well, the Bighorn 6-27 at the Madden Field
in central Wyoming. Burlington, headquartered in Houston, operates
the well and holds a 49% working interest. The well reached a total
depth of 25,855 feet in early January and now, Burlington intends
to move to a two-rig development drilling program in the second
quarter. BR currently operates four wells producing from the deep
Madison formation, each capable of gross production in excess of 50
MMcf/d. Current gross production is approximately 130 MMcf/d from
the Madison formation, but production is constrained by processing
capacity at the Lost Cabin Gas Plant in Lysite, WY. The plant's
third train, now under construction, is scheduled for completion in
late 2002, which will allow gross production to increase to a total
of 310 MMcf/d.

The Shaw Group Inc., based in Baton Rouge, has signed an
agreement with PG&E National Energy Group to construct 3,300 MW
of new generating capacity, comprising three combined-cycle power
plants, with the first plant to be constructed in Michigan. No
exact location or financial details were disclosed. PG&E
National Energy Group currently owns or manages more than 7,000 MW
and has more than 10,000 MW in new power plant development or
construction under way. It operates 30 power plants in 10 states.
Stone & Webster, a Shaw subsidiary, will construct the three
facilities, and plans to begin work in six-month intervals
beginning in June once project financing is secured. Engineering
has begun for the first project, and the third project is expected
to be completed and in commercial operation by the end of 2004. A
Shaw spokeswoman said that PG&E did not want to disclose the
location of the plants, including the exact location of the
Michigan site. She affirmed that the other two plants would be
located in the Midwest.

Green Mountain Energy completed its largest-ever energy
aggregation contract and has picked up more than 400,000 Ohio
electricity customers in a six-year agreement with Northeast Ohio
Public Energy Council (NOPEC), a public electricity buying group.
Green Mountain will provide natural gas and renewable wind and
solar energy to households in eight Ohio counties. The Austin,
TX-based company now has a customer base of 500,000 households in
five states: Connecticut, California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Ohio, with plans to enter the Texas market when its pilot
deregulation program begins in June. Under terms of the contract,
Green Mountain will begin serving residential customers across the
NOPEC area beginning Sept. 1. The electricity will be generated
from natural gas, as well as renewable wind and solar energy. Green
Mountain stated that its product blend would emit 1/3 less carbon
dioxide, 2/3 less nitrous oxide, no sulfur dioxide and no mercury.
Green Mountain also plans to develop new renewable generation
facilities in the state, including constructing Ohio's largest wind
farm and solar arrays, to generate energy for NOPEC customers. It
said it would work with its investors and strategic partners, BP
Solar and Nuon, a European energy supplier, to develop
commercial-scale solar power and wind facilities. Its initial
target is a wind facility with a capacity up to 10 MW, but Kelly
said the company also plans to support the development of at least
100 kW of new solar capacity in Ohio.

Sierra Pacific Resources Co. wants to build a $300 million high
capacity transmission project to serve the growing population in
southern Nevada. The 500-kilovolt transmission project would
provide about 3,000 MW of generating capacity now proposed near Las
Vegas, with completion by 2003. When possible, Sierra Pacific,
headquartered in Reno, NV, would follow existing corridors, but it
has filed a construction permit and is considering alternate
routes. Construction could begin next year if the permitting
process is approved. Gary Porter, the executive director of
transmission for Sierra Pacific Power Co. and Nevada Power Co.,
subsidiaries of SPR, said Sierra developers are now working on
siting locations, but he said the financial details had not been
completed. Under Sierra Pacific's plan, generation companies would
pay for access to the transmission system. As many as 14 new power
project could be developed in the state by generating companies in
the next two years if there is transmission capacity available to
serve the plants, Porter said. He said Sierra Pacific also is
considering more transmission capacity in northern Nevada, but it
had no timeline. Two years ago, Sierra Pacific added a 345 kV
electric transmission line, which almost doubled its capacity to
import electricity to the northern part of the state from other
utilities.

&COPY;Copyright 2001 Intelligence Press, Inc. All rights
reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or
redistributed in whole or in part without prior written consent of
Intelligence Press, Inc.

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